An apparently ‘cheeky’ reply by Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa regarding the issue of a bizarre name in the voter list raised by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders has drawn sharp criticism from Opposition leaders.
In a post on X, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Monday drew the UP CEO’s attention to the issue raised by party leader Rajesh Yadav concerning the bizarre name “Ram ne Yadav ko maara” in the voter list for the Legislative Council election for the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduate constituency.
“Why did Ram ultimately kill a “Yadav” specifically? Why didn’t Ram kill a Singh, Pathak, Asthana, Sharma, Rai, or Bisht? Is your computer deeply casteist? Are you pushing some party’s agenda? @rajeshyadavaap’s question was valid,” Singh said.
In response to Sanjay Singh’s post, Rinwa said that the voter list for the recent Legislative Council elections also contains a bizarre name: “Ram ne Sharma ko mara.”
“Computers/software are not casteist. …we made a mistake, but fortunately, even during the mistake, there was no discrimination based on caste. We must also thank God that Ram did not kill any minority. Otherwise, in addition to being casteist, there would also be an accusation of being communal,” he said.
The UP CEO also posted a photo of a voter slip of one Ravi Sharma, enrolled in the voter list for the Legislative Council election for the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduate constituency, in which ‘Ram ne Sharma ko maara’ is mentioned in the father’s name column.
{{/usCountry}}The UP CEO also posted a photo of a voter slip of one Ravi Sharma, enrolled in the voter list for the Legislative Council election for the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduate constituency, in which ‘Ram ne Sharma ko maara’ is mentioned in the father’s name column.
{{/usCountry}}Terming the UP CEO’s post on X irresponsible, Sanjay Singh said AAP will hold a press conference to respond.
“The CEO’s language is communal,” he said.
In a separate post on X, Congress Working Committee member Supriya Shrinate asked who is running the handle @ceoup. “Anyway, you folks have no special credibility left to save. The little bit of confusion that exists - this handle is clearing it up all by itself!” she said.
Replying to Shrinate, the UP CEO said the Election Commission of India has issued instructions to limit statements to facts only, using restrained language in every case, without unnecessary comments.
Meanwhile, several users took to their X handle to counter the UP CEO’s response.
One of the users said, “This is the official handle of the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh. But the comment is being made like that of the BJP IT Cell.”
Another said, “Look at the level of the Election Commission’s official handle—such a massive error in the voter list, and instead of providing clarification, they directly drag in minorities for political jabs. The CEO of UP’s job is to ensure fair elections, not to sit in a government position and make communal taunts.”
In a separate post, the UP CEO said during recently held MLC elections, some bizarre looking names appeared in the voter list. “It has come to notice that some forged voter slips have also gone viral, which are being displayed/mentioned by many established media outlets and prominent persons. It is requested that before quoting/displaying/publishing as fact anything shared by someone on social media regarding the voter list, it may be proper to verify it from the concerned officials.”
“Our officials would promptly respond to any factual query,” the UP CEO said.